Keywords: Buzias-Bath, medicinal baths, socio-cultural life

At the end of the Turkish subjection, the area of Buzias was populated by Serbs and Romanians, and from 1782 onward by Germans, too. At the beginning of the 19th century, it became a manor centre, as the settling of the Hungarians and Slovaks began. Also at the beginning of the century began its establishment as a pleasure resort, and it was officially pronounced as such in 1876. Bath life received a new impulse in 1876 with the building of the railroad. Due to the nearness of Temesvár (Timişoara) it is one of the most preferred baths of this city’s population, and among the centers of Hungarian socio-cultural life in the Banat until the middle of the 20th century.

 

Keywords: Transylvania, bath culture, medicinal baths, leisure activities

Bath culture, with its beginnings in the 18th century, has been associated for a long time with body hygiene, recovery, relaxation, summer vacations, and recreation. Transylvania, and especially the Land of the Székely, is particularly rich in precious mineral waters not only in the context of pre-1918 Hungary or the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, but even in a worldwide comparison. Nevertheless, in contrast with the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy or even the narrower Hungary, the construction of pleasure resorts in Transylvania has been surprisingly late.

Why does the long half-century of Monarchy’s existence deserve the title of the Transylvanian baths’ golden age? First of all, because it is the period in which the baths themselves emerged. The special natural resources, hitherto barely used and buried for centuries, and the splendid natural surroundings started being appreciated by establishing these resorts. These changes brought about a differentiation of the baths according to their curative powers, comfort, and expenses. After the First World War, their historical framework broke up, and bath culture began to decline, as a significant portion of these establishments went to ruin, and the natural environment deteriorated.

 

Keywords: Balneoclimatic Resort, bath culture, Hungarian architects

Vizakna Balneoclimatic Resort (Ocna Sibiului, Salzburg) is part of today’s Sibiu County and is situated some 15 kilometers North from Szeben (Sibiu, Hermannstadt). The Balneoclimatic Re-sort is on the Eastern border of the settlement. It is formed by five salt lakes whose popularity kept increasing since the second half of the 19th century. By the turn of the century, its attendance had outgrown its existing facilities. As a remedy to this situation, in 1903 a tender was announced for a new, uniform architectural plan that has to include three buildings: a health-saloon, a bath-house, and a hotel with interconnecting covered passageways. The tender was won by two architects from Budapest, Zoltán Bálint and Lajos Jámbor, with the condition to incorporate some modifications into their submitted plan. Despite the fact that the committee recommended only a few changes, the Resort complex that opened in 1909 was totally different from the one presented in the original plans. Unfortunately, the new Resort could not live up to its expectations because the First World War and its consequences decided its fate.

 

Keywords: Püspökfürdő, Félixfürdő, thermal baths, medicinal baths, catholic episcopate

The two oldest thermal baths near Nagyvárad (Oradea) are Püspökfürdő and Félixfürdő. The vicinity of Püspökfürdő has been a peopled area from the oldest times onward. Its first documented mentioning is dated in the 13th century, and in the 14th century, it went into the ownership of the Catholic Episcopate of Nagyvárad. As a pleasure resort, it was established in the 17th century, and its modernization took place in the 19th century. It is a widely appreciated bath even today. Félixfürdő, originally a property of the Premontrean order, has been established at the beginning of the 18th century, and it began being developed in the middle of the 19th century. It is an internationally recognised and popular pleasure resort.

 

Keywords: medical baths, Hargita Moun-tains, geothermal ground gas sources

The essay introduces the medical baths from the Western foothills of the Hargita Mountains. From an administrative point of view, this area is the Western part of the Hargity County. Geographically, it is the area that appeared between the volcanic hills and the Transylvanian Basin. Due to the post-volcanic activities, there are numerous mineral water springs and geothermal ground gas sources (mofeta). In the mountains, there is also a huge amount of leftover salt from the ancient sea that once covered the area. The salt mine is in Parajd; salty springs and salt water lakes also confirm the presence of salt. The region is called Szekelyland after the Szekely-Hungarian inhabitants of the wider region. They discovered the therapeutic effect of the mineral waters and salty waters centuries ago and they used them in folk medicine. This therapeutic effect was enhanced by the healthy Sub-Alpine air of the forests.

The water of the medicinal springs had been analyzed using scientific methods from the second half of the 18th century. The first book describing the results appeared in 1777 in Vienna, it described the medicinal waters of the Habsburg Empire. In addition to the small “peasant” baths, four big spas were founded. Borszék, Előpatak and Tusnád started to develop during the 18th century. The local nobility, small land owners and the burgeois visited them, along with numerous summer guests from the neighboring Romanian kingdoms. The fourth spa, Szováta became famous at the end of the 19th century due to its heliotermic salt water lakes. In the region presented in this essay, several small spas appeared in the years of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy (1867-1918). The spas of Szejke, Homoród, Kiruly offered pain relief and entertainment to hundreds of sick and healthy summer guests.